Francis: Cardinal Lehmann “Shaped the Life Of [Dying] German Church”
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Lehmann took over Mainz Diocese in 1983 when it had almost one million Catholics and 560 diocesan priests. He left it in 2016 with 740'000 Catholics and 396 priests.
Lehmann was a friend of the rich and powerful of this world like Jean-Claude Juncker, Angela Merkel and many others. They honoured him with at least 31 awards, among them the Martin-Luther-Medal which he truly deserved.
The fact that the two known heretics Lehmann and Walter Kasper were made cardinals in February 2001 casts a lasting dark shadow over John Paul II's legacy.
Picture: Karl Lehmann, © Raimond Spekking, CC BY-SA, #newsTbhdmtsdqz